Baby Banter
by Raven Hallowryn
Summary: Twelve years after the Equalist War, and after plenty heartache, Korra and Noatak are married with children of their own. One day Korra arrives home from work and what promises to be a very heart-warming night begins. Romantic introspective and comedic family shenanigans.


**Note:** This one-shot is for DazzlingAmethyst (aka Velvet of Love) as a celebratory gift since she recently gave birth to twins and has been a good friend.

**Rating:** T (comedy, romance, fluff, family)

**Word Count: **9k

**Pairing:** Amorra/Noarra (Noatak x Korra)

**Summary:** Twelve years after the Equalist War, and after plenty heartache, Korra and Noatak are married with children of their own. One day Korra arrives home from work and what promises to be a very heart-warming night begins. Romantic introspective and comedic family shenanigans.

~~~~~~.:oOo:.~~~~~~

It happened every day and Korra was still amazed by it in every sense. No matter how tired she was from a mission or from dealing with bureaucrats and Council members all day, as soon as she got home, walked through the door and saw those little smiles crawling towards her, all that exhaustion went away.

"Hello, babies." The Avatar crouched down to look at the pair of five-year olds that scurried over to her immediately on their hands and knees, of course they could walk perfectly but lately they seemed to have taken a licking to crawling around the house in some private game of theirs, Korra suspected they were mimicking Naga.

"Not babies, mama!" The little boy pouted with irritation.

"We're polar bears! Rawr!" The small girl gave a playful growl that prompted both children to jump onto their mother, causing her to topple back ad fall on her rear while laughing.

Korra couldn't help but hug them. Rui and Qannik were her pride and joy- true, she had never even imagined wanting kids before she had them, hell, if someone had told her twelve years earlier that she'd become a parent with the man she was currently with she would have called Lin on the person and throw them in a padded cell but now she didn't think she could live without her family anymore. The two kids hugged back and kissed all over her face, clinging to her and babbling something about sweets, actually peeking into her winter clothing in search for something.

"Shh. Not so loud, we don't want daddy to hear, do we?" Korra chuckled and pulled a little box of sweet stuffed mochi dumplings from her coat pocket, letting them devour the sweets. She always brought them a treat, even though she knew her husband didn't approve of letting the twins have candy before meals.

As they ate, sitting right there in the living-room floor with her, getting sweet bean paste and powdered sugar all over their faces, she watched them- they were so big now though adorably scrawny despite the fact that they ate almost as much as Korra, Qannik had her hair in little loopy braids, Rui wore his in a single plait, they had their father's pale icy blue eyes as well as his rich coffee colored hair but everything else was so like Korra that she couldn't avoid feeling proud, they had her energy, her button nose, her dollish features and almond-shaped eyes, her pout and even her loud laugh and they were so much alike that if she didn't know any better she would have thought they were identical twins.

"Korra? Is that you?" A deep rusty male voice called from the corridor and the Avatar hurried to hide the box of treats behind her back as her husband walked into the room.

"Erm… Hi, Noatak. I'm home." She grinned a bit too widely and stood up with one of her hands still behind her.

"Welcome home." He leaned close and kissed her lips gently just before he stepped back and surveyed the children with a sigh. "You gave them sweets again, didn't you?"

"What? Me? Noooo!" She replied with far too much jumpiness to be true, then again even if she had been able to pull off the lie the children's faces were covered in sugar and Qannik was already snatching the mochi box Korra was hiding and running off with her twin on her heels, prompting the Avatar to shout. "Hey! That's for both of you, Qannik! Share it!" She then realized she had given herself away and gave her husband a guilty smile. "Hm….."

"I thought we had talked about this, Korra." Noatak crossed his arms, looking at her quite irritable, the frown made the lines around his eyes look deeper. Twelve years ago that look might have terrified her and sent shivers down her spine but nowadays it just made her wilt a little with that awkward apologetic grin of hers.

"But it makes them so happy…" Korra grumbled, rubbing the back of her head self-consciously. "It's no real harm, is it?"

"…" He stared at her for a long serious silent moment and she understood that this wasn't about the sweets, it was about respecting the decisions they made together for the well-being of the children but she still tried not to think too deeply about it and decided that she had done nothing wrong so she moved close and wrapped her arms around his neck, standing on tiptoes to plant little kisses on the corner of his mouth.

"Come on, Noatak. Don't be such a sourpuss." Korra nuzzled into his neck, drawing little patterns on his shoulder blades with the tips of her fingers in a way that always made him shiver.

It took a moment but at last he sighed and surrendered, uncrossing his arms to wrap them around her waist. "When did I start becoming putty in your hands, Avatar Korra?"

"You always were putty in my hands, _Amon_." She joked playfully and kissed him, happy that he kissed back with plenty enthusiasm. A few years back these jokes about his former title would have been inappropriate but nowadays that was just a part of the past.

Things had changed drastically in that last decade- after the end of the Equalist War when she was dating Mako, Noatak had been captured after a boat wreck that ended in Tarrlok's death, only to then be trialed and imprisoned with his bending removed; she had thought she could never forgive the former equalist leader, she had believed that the memory of bloodbending, fear tactics, lies and violence would forever be imprinted in her brain… But then things changed, the more time passed the more she felt sorry for his youth and realized that all he ever did was for what he considered as a greater good no matter how warped his views were, it was a reaction to what people expected of him and the more experience she gained as Avatar with all the fights, public pressure and Spirit turmoil, the more she realized the two of them weren't so different after all.

At some point, after a few years, she tried to understand him and then the prison visits began; at first it was just an excuse to ferret out all information about the remaining equalists that were once again building up their forces and to inform Noatak that his movement had at least brought out something good- non-benders, the great majority of the population, where starting to stand up for themselves peacefully and the Council had finally agreed to review new laws in favor of social equality, as well as admit non-bender representation towards the Council. She had wondered how he would react to this, but his response was not the smug pride or bitter longing she had expected, instead he had simply nodded at all she said and answered every question with little to no enthusiasm, merely omitting a name here and there out of loyalty, and that was when she realized how horribly he felt.

After several visits she began to see that he had lost all his old bite, he was still charming and frustrating to understand but gone was all his desire to fight or even live, and she could easily imagine why- he had lost his movement, his followers, his friends, his brother who had tried to kill them both and then he had lost even his bending and had had to learn to live with the soul-shattering emptiness that that left behind even though at the time he had welcomed the removal. She began to wonder how he still managed to stay alive, she began to unconsciously want to see him smile and when Mako accused her of harboring feelings for the former enemy she was shocked to realize that she couldn't really deny it.

That was when she and Mako began to drift apart romantically, their relationship had been sweet and passionate but it burned out quickly and they clashed too much so that they were always jealous and never fell into pace with each other and realized that they needed more than just that wild spark of sexual tension and childish infatuation. It wasn't a bad break-up though, it was a mutual decision that they came to after both sides gained some maturity, they managed to remain friends and Korra always supported his romantic interests, the only real problem between them was that Mako didn't approve of her feelings for Noatak and often made it his mission to remind her of the past. She didn't really care though, before long she was visiting Noatak every day under the pretext of trying to understand him and eventually the man confessed that her visits were the only thing that kept him sane and living.

Korra didn't quite recall when she had started pulling strings with the Council and the police to grant him parole under her custody but she was shocked when she actually succeeded! Tenzin had had some weight in the decision, he had long since decided to let go of old grudges as was the Air Nomad way and apparently he was swayed by Korra's argument that showing Amon some mercy would give them higher moral ground and prove that they were not the tyrants he had accused them of being. In the end she didn't really know what got them to free the man but they did, even if he had to handle hefty conditions just to keep his newfound freedom, and not even a month later she was openly flirting with him.

Never in her wildest dreams had Korra imagined she could ever be happily married to Amon of all people but she was and navy leather and lilac opal choker around her neck was proof of it. Thankfully, despite all the hate and criticism, their union proved to be positive, it showed the extent of the Avatar's forgiveness and compassion and it showed willingness to unite the bender agenda and the non-bender cause even if most saw Noatak as a hypocrite and a traitor, apparently he was still a strong enough symbol after all.

The twins had been the cherry on top of the cake- even with all the turmoil in her life as Avatar, even with all the violence and danger she had to face often, even with all the criticism and hate that she dealt with daily, even with all the pressure of fame, Korra had to say that nowadays without shadow of a doubt she was happy, she had a loving husband regardless of his dark past, she had beautiful children, she had wonderful friends, she was successful in her work and had long since become a fully realized Avatar. The shadow of danger and the unpredictability of the Spirit World would always hover over her head but she didn't really care, she lived in the moment and in that moment she was happy.

"You're distracted." Noatak murmured as their kiss broke, she had been too lost in thoughts of the past to truly focus on the deliciousness that was kissing him.

"Sorry. Just thinking about how happy I am with you." The Avatar smiled, gently rubbing her nose to his in a typically Water Tribe show of affection.

"Now you're just flattering me so I won't be angry." He retorted with a skeptical smile.

"No, if I wanted to diffuse your anger I'd…" Korra leaned closer and whispered a few tantalizingly lewd choice words into his ear.

"My, my… Is that a proposal, Avatar Korra?" Noatak replied with amusement and obvious interest.

"It most certainly is." She kissed his jaw with her hands trailing down his back but before things could get any more intimate the children ran back into the room with Rui trying to push his father away as he always did when anyone but himself and Qannik was the focus of his mother's affections. It made Korra chuckle and wink at her husband. "Later?"

"Later." He agreed with secretive smile reserved just for her.

"Mama, Qannik had more dumplings than me!" The little boy complained, pulling on her clothes for emphasis.

"Nuh-uh! It was the same!" The girl barged into the room clumsily to defend herself.

"No, you eated more." Rui sassed back.

"Ate more, Rui, not eated." Noatak corrected out of reflex.

"Ate more." The boy mimicked still with an accusatory tone.

"But I didn't!" Qannik whined and stomped her foot.

"Ok, ok, enough, my babies." Korra pulled then both to her and kneeled, she was well aware of her daughter's greediness when it came to food but she was in a good mood so rather than let them fight she decided to be diplomatic. "How about we let Rui pick what we have for dinner tonight to be fair?"

"I want spicy fruit stew!" The boy announced almost immediately and far too promptly, maybe this had been his goal all along.

"I think we can manage that, don't you?" She looked up at Noatak expectantly, after all he was the one who cooked.

"We don't have the necessary ingredients." He replied with a touch of amusement as the little boy began to pout.

"How about we go out? I hear there's this new Fire Nation place down by Pakku street." Korra suggested brightly, it wasn't common for them to go out.

Noatak looked down at the expecting children for moment, they were almost bouncing around with eager excitement and Korra seemed just as cheerful so at last he gave in. "Well? What are you waiting for? Go get ready."

The twins scurried off immediately and Korra rose to go bathe quickly while Noatak helped the children dress. It took her a little longer than expected between washing, combing her hair and getting dressed but by the time was out she was sure everyone must be waiting for her and, in truth, Noatak waiting by the bathroom door.

"Ready?" He enquired lightly.

"Are you?" She smirked lightly.

"For quite some time. The kids are playing in our room." Noatak replied nonchalantly.

Korra nodded and walked down the hall towards their room with her husband close behind, once they arrived they stood by the door watching the action inside- Qannik had somehow gotten hold of the old Amon mask and was playing with it, racing after a stumbling laughing Rui who kept jumping away from her.

"Rawr! I will eat you, prince Rui!" The little girl growled, making monster noises and trying to grab her brother while still holding the mask to her face.

The sight made Korra frown slightly, she had mixed feelings about the whole situation; it was a childish parallel of the past but one were the girl was the monster and the boy was the hero, it reminded the Avatar all too well of just how easily the situation with the Equalist War could have been reversed, it reminded her how similar she and Noatak had once been in terms of power, pressure and public admiration despite their moral differences. This was why she didn't like that mask, it made her think too much, too deeply, it made her dwell in the past.

"Noatak…Why did you let them play with that?" Korra murmured the question softly.

"I didn't. They seem to have found it in the trunk and Qannik has grown attached to it." He shrugged as if it made no real difference to him even though she was sure it did.

"Hm." She made a sound that wasn't really a response, merely a way of acknowledging his answer.

"Appropriate, isn't it? That she uses it to play a monster that chases the hero around." Noatak whispered in her ear with a little spite and plenty cynicism. There it was- that little flash of emotion that showed that the presence of the old mask bothered him too, as always it brought up his self-deprecatory side.

"…Don't start." She shot at him coolly. Korra really hated when Noatak reverted to the bitter self-loathing he displayed openly for the first few years of their relationship, it got on her nerves and hurt her to see him suffer that way even in the slightest.

"I was merely commenting on the irony." He excused quickly.

"Time to go, kids!" Korra spoke loudly, ignore his retort.

"Yay!" Both children suddenly seemed to notice them and ran up their mother cheerfully, Qannik still holding the mask.

"Put it away, Qannik." Korra requested patiently, nodding towards the mask.

"But I wanna take it!" The little girl complained, clinging to the white lacquered wood mask as if it were a plushy she was very fond of.

"Well…ah…I'm sorry but you can't, little one." The Avatar was a little bit at loss of how to handle the situation but she held her ground.

"I wanna!" Qannik insisted stubbornly and loudly.

"Qannik, it's not a toy and it's not something you can just take out in public." Korra admonished more firmly, after all she couldn't possibly let her kid go running around town with such a symbol, it would probably backlash in the worst way.

"But…" The girl was frowning and about to complain again but Noatak stopped her and kneeled down to her level.

"Qannik, listen to daddy, alright? This is something very special but it's also very scary to the people outside our family, do you understand? Do you really want to scare everyone away from you? Do you want to make everyone angry?" Noatak spoke softly and gently but with a slight sharpness that conveyed the truth in his words.

"…No…" The girl hesitated and gave in, her face falling a little into sadness.

"Put it away, you can play with it when we come back." Noatak replied as a compromise.

"Ok…" Qannik agreed and stashed the mask back in the massive polished trunk in the corner, still looking dejected.

"Good girl." Noatak complimented and pet her hair kindly with a slight smile.

They left the house and walked down to the harbor, the reason the family rarely went for such spontaneous outings was because they lived in their own little corner of Air Temple Island given that their last attempt at living in the actual city had resulted in property damage from vandals who weren't too happy about having either Amon or the Avatar in the neighborhood, at that point Korra was pregnant and decided she wouldn't raise her children in such an environment, luckily Air Temple Island was more than happy to take them in and even supply the Avatar with a corner just for them with their own little house. It turned out to be a pleasant arrangement, after all Korra always saw Tenzin's family as her own.

The slipped into the little closed-top boat that had been a gift from Future Industries, and Noatak went around the vessel to check the fuel deposit. Korra settled in back with the children.

"Enough with the long face, Qannik." The Avatar tried to cheer the little girl that still sulked at her side. "Come here." She picked up the child as if she were as light as kitten and tossed her in the air, catching her on the descent only to throw her back up again until Qannik was laughing and Korra was smirking. "Better?"

"Korra…" Noatak called her name in warning from outside the boat and it caught her attention even through all of Qannik's laughter.

"What?" She looked at him sheepishly once again, she knew that tone and it probably wasn't good.

"You've done that since they were born and therefore you know that makes me highly uncomfortable. Please stop." Noatak requested, referring to the Avatar's habit of tossing up and catching the children just to make them laugh; he had good reason not to like this game, it had resulted in harmless but frightening accidents before and he was deeply overprotective.

"But she likes it!" Korra contested without actually stopping.

"Stop." He demanded before heading into the small shack next to the dock to collect more fuel for the boat.

"You're too much of a worrywart." The Avatar stuck her tongue out at his retreating back and continued to toss her daughter into the air while he couldn't see.

Qannik squealed in delight but apparently they should have a heeded Noatak's warning because the Avatar misjudged the height if the boat cabin and the little girl's head bumped onto the rough structure with a resounding smack that was far too loud for comfort.

"What was that?" Noatak's voice echoed from the dock with a note of worry.

"Nothing!" Korra called out loudly and very quickly before hugging her daughter to her chest in distress, examining Qannik's head to find the spot where a tiny lump was already threatening to swell as the girl whimpered and her eyes welled up with unshed tears. "Oh Spirits! Shh, shh, sorry, baby. Sorry, it's ok. See? Mommy's healing it."

Korra bent some sea water into the vessel right away and proceeded to heal in the minor injury in three seconds flat, disposing of the liquid just before Noatak stepped back into the boat. Meanwhile Rui was watching the whole thing with mildly interested eyes.

"Korra?" Noatak made a question out of her name when he noticed the child still anchored to her chest and the Avatar's slight fox-antelope-in-the-headlights look.

"Huh?" Korra blurted out trying to look perfectly innocent.

"What happened?" He enquired with a resigned sigh.

"Nothing." She sounded defensive.

"Mama made Qannik bump her head in the ceiling." Rui promptly explained, a little tired of being left out and not understanding why his mother didn't just explain something so simple right away.

"Rui! No." Korra pouted, she wasn't really angry just upset that her cover was blown.

"Korra…" Noatak once again spoke her name in admonishment, he knew she was a wonderful mother but sometimes she could be more childish than the children were.

"She's ok! Aren't you, sweetie?" Korra defended, finally loosening her grip on the girl and bouncing her a little.

"…Can you do more, mama?" Qannik asked hopefully after a second of hesitation, spreading her arms in hopes of getting tossed again even though she eyed the roof of the vessel a little apprehensively.

"See? She even wants more." The Avatar grinned triumphantly but did not repeat the feat.

"Let's go before you get into any more trouble." Noatak shook his head, resisting the urge to roll his eyes as he took the wheel and steered the vessel towards the city bay with Rui in front of him, the little boy liked to pretend to steer and Noatak was happy to oblige in that sense.

Korra was still a little defensive when they disembarked in the little harbor and began walking in the snowy streets with the children in hand but her mood lightened considerably when the twins began babbling about their day playing with the other children at the Air Temple and learning to write their names with ink and brush. Somehow the cheerful voices of the two kids always managed to make Korra forget everything negative and Noatak seemed to feel the exact same way as he encouraged the twins to explain everything they had done in greater detail.

Finally they reached the brightly lit road with its many streetlamps and colorful store banners where the aroma of several styles of cuisine hung in the air; the scent of spices, meats, baked pasties and many other goodies fluttered warmly in the wintry atmosphere and was strong enough to make passersby drool. The little shop they chose was called «Zira's», it had crimson and purple streamers at the door and the environment inside was cheerful, colorful, a little stuffy and, luckily, not very crowed; apparently Korra had heard of the place from Bolin that very morning and was quite excited to try it out.

The food was good, they had to admit that much, the children chose the aforementioned spicy fruit stew and got coral-colored sauce all over they faces and clothes while Korra and Noatak indulged in nut rice with lemon steaks, as always the Avatar was a voracious and sloppy eater and drank the same beverage as the twins- fizzy cocoa-berry pop.

Suddenly Rui burped loudly and blushed but Korra just chuckled and burped back, Qannik didn't want to be left behind and did the same until an all-out burping contest was raging at the table cause Noatak to frown slightly and shake his head in resigned disapproval, he had already been wondering when the blatant lack of manners would start to show but they all seemed to be having so much fun laughing loudly at each other that he just couldn't complain even as the other patrons in the establishment stared is abject horror.

"Korra, please. Show a little decorum." He requested.

"Oh hush, Noa-_taaaaaaaak_." She finished his name with a burp so loud that Rui fell off his seat laughing and Noatak just rolled his eyes to hide a reluctant grin.

"Daddy, daddy, you too!" Qannik requested, she was so covered in sauce that Noatak took it upon himself to wipe her face clean.

"I don't think so, little one." He replied with a dignified smile.

"Killjoy. Daddy always has a stick up his…" Korra began to speak through a mouth full of food.

"Korra…" As usual her name left his lips in warning but he was still smiling, he knew full well she was only joking and being spontaneous. "Try not to speak with a full mouth, it's a bad example."

"I didn't see you complaining about that last night." She swallowed her food and stuck her tongue out at him playfully.

Noatak shook his head at the perverted comment, glad that the children were too young to understand and got up quietly. "Excuse me."

He headed to the lavatory to wash his hands after cleaning up the messy little girl but on his way back to the table, a waitress stopped him momentarily with a shy smile on her lips. She avoided eye contacted and fidgeted a little awkwardly.

"Excuse me, sir?" The young amber eyed girl seemed nervous. "Hm… I don't wish to intrude but… Well…"

"How may I help you?" Noatak enquired politely, he could already guess what she was trying to say.

"You see… It's about your family…" She stuttered a little.

"Yes?" He urged.

"Well…" The woman continued to hesitate and apparently was beginning to back away when someone spoke for her.

"She means you should teach them some manners. Other people are trying to eat in peace." A gruff middle-aged man, probably around Noatak's age at that, with dull green eyes and a pockmarked face spoke up from the nearest table. He was alone, eating meat skewers and drinking wine.

"Oh?" The former equalist redirected his attention at the man before turning to the waitress again.

"What I meant was- could please ask your family to be a little quieter? Some of our other patrons are feeling a little uncomfortable." The woman explained as tactfully as she could.

"I assure you I have already lectured them." Noatak replied charmingly.

"Thank you and sorry for the inconvenience." The lady bowed in respect.

"It's quite alright." He pitied girl for having such a job, it was obvious she really didn't enjoy confrontation.

"Yeah, yeah. Aren't even embarrassed to see your grown daughter giving such an example to the little ones? They're acting like wild animals." The gruff man who had intruded before mumbled with obvious annoyance.

"For your information, sir, that lovely lady is my wife…" Noatak retorted softly but darkly, staring intently at the man with a sharp icy glare despite his polite tone. "And no, I am not the least bit ashamed, she is merely harmlessly expressing herself with humor and if it upsets you so and you do not have anything better to do than nitpick at other peoples' manners then perhaps that explains why you are here _alone_. Please be so kind as to keep your opinions to yourself."

The waitress covered her mouth, apparently to hide the sudden urge to giggle and Noatak merely crossed his arms, daring the other man to reply further, he wasn't angry per se even though any insult towards his family made his blood boil, it was more of a sensation of challenge and he knew this was one he could win easily.

"Wife? Oh…That…" The man began to stumble on his words and returned to his meal, downing a whole glass of wine in one gulp. Now that he paid a little more attention, Noatak wondered if the man wasn't more than a little intoxicated already.

"Noatak! What's taking you so long?" Korra called loudly from their table, waving her hand at him.

"Excuse me, my beloved awaits me." Noatak replied to both the man and the waitress with a proud and mischievous smile before striding back to the table without waiting for a reply.

"What happened?" The Avatar asked quite curiously as he took his seat in front of her again.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with." He replied calmly.

"Tell me." As expected, she insisted.

He did tell her though, he explained the minor altercation with nothing but humor even though she knew how references to their age difference always ticked him off profoundly, after all, she was indeed young enough to be his daughter but she never cared about that matter, all she cared about was that she loved him and cherished every minute by his side.

"Well then…" Korra stood and leaned over the table towards him to deliver a deep, spice-tasting, breathtaking kiss to his lips as a statement to anyone watching.

"Eeeewwwww! Oogies!" The twins complained in unison, doing fake gagging noises that made Korra laugh enough to break the kiss.

The sounds of applause made the couple look towards the door, the people clapping were none other than Bolin, Desna and Eska, all of whom joined the family at the table with Pabu hopping from Bolin's shoulder to settle on Desna's. Of course Korra new her cousins were visiting town and were quite attached to the earthbender but she hadn't expected them all to suddenly pop up at the same restaurant as her.

"Always putting on a show, cousin." Desna commented off-hand with a sly grin as he hugged Qannik and Rui, both he and Eska had always had a special affinity with Korra's children and she assumed it was because of the twin factor that they had in common.

"What are you guys even doing here?" Korra asked, grinning proudly at the comment.

"Hey, I'm the one who told you about the place, are you really that surprised that we'd bump into each other?" Bolin bumped knuckles with her as per habit.

"Good point." The Avatar nodded. "Join us?"

"Don't mind if we do." Eska took up on the offer and sat next to Rui, letting the boy pop a piece of fruit in her mouth while Qannik fed Pabu some papaya.

The meal was loud, filled with laughter and joyous conversation. It ended up dragging on for far longer than expected but nobody seemed to mind because there was plenty to talk about and the twins often brought up the silliest shenanigans as everyone indulged in the savory food.

"So why exactly where you putting on a kissing show?" Bolin asked as some point during the meal.

"Some jerk made a jerky comment about us so I decided to make a statement." The Avatar smirked smugly.

"Figures." Desna nodded with a light shrug.

"What kind of comment? Did he recognize you or something?" Bolin seemed curious. "I mean, I know a lot of people still don't like seeing you together given how you met originally."

"Nah, it was nothing of the sort." Korra waved the matter away. "The guy was just butt-hurt that we were being noisy and having a burping contest."

"Ah, that takes me back." Bolin laughed with a nostalgic gleam in his eyes.

"Mama?" Qannik spoke up, apparently she was deep in thought from what had just been said.

"Hm?" Korra looked at her daughter curiously.

"How _did_ you and daddy meet?" The little girl gave Bolin a fleeting look, what uncle Bo mentioned had stirred her curiosity.

Suddenly everyone was looking at the Avatar and her husband with a mix of curiosity and, in Bolin's case, discomfort. Even Pabu seemed aware of the tension in the now silent table and scurried onto Desna's lap while Korra traded a nervous glance with Noatak.

"Oh…Hm…That… That's a long story." Korra sipped on her soda straw and avoided looking at the children while Bolin mouthed a silent 'Sorry' her way. "We'll tell you some other time."

"But I wanna know now." Qannik insisted.

"Me too." Rui put in a little curious himself. "When was it?"

"Erm…" Korra fidgeted.

"We officially met twelve years ago at Avatar Aang Memorial." Noatak rescued her with the simple reply, neglecting to point out that they knew each other's reputations long before that and that they had had a brief previous encounter during his first revelation rally.

"Was it love at first sight?" Rui asked, though it was fairly obvious that he was only vaguely aware of what the expression meant and had probably picked up somewhere else.

"Spirits, no!" Korra laughed almost automatically. "He scared the living daylights out of me."

"That makes two of us." Bolin chuckled as well.

The Avatar continued to laugh but she tried to compose herself and gave Noatak a smile. He was very quiet now, looking at her with an air of uncomfortable mystery that she had grown to know well and she was aware that his sudden silence was not because of her words themselves, after all how many times had he apologized for using terror tactics on her in the past? No, she knew that look, he was hiding something and it made her a little scared because she already suspected what it was but she didn't want to admit to herself that Amon might have had feelings for her from their very first meeting because even though that was perfectly in character for a man who was so attracted to power like he used to be, it implied that he had done all those horrible things to her despite what he felt for her and she did not enjoy the implications of such a thing.

"Daddy was scary?" Qannik blinked in confusion, distracting the Avatar from her negative thoughts- apparently the girl couldn't imagine how her father could be frightening.

"Like angry scary? Like when Qannik bit me and he yelled at her?" Rui's brows were scrunched the same way Korra's usually became when she was concentrating and trying to make sense of something.

"No, not quite like that." Korra mused for a moment, not sure how to reply. "He just did some really scary things."

"Like what?" The kids asked in unison. By now even Desna and Eska were hanging on the story with intrigued curiosity, they knew the tale but everyone seemed keen on watching how the couple would answer.

"Like the monsters in story books." Noatak replied to save Korra from any more awkwardness.

"But monsters are bad." Rui argued with a pout, getting even more confused.

"So was I." Noatak stated with simplicity.

"Why were you bad, daddy?" Qannik was leaning close now, drinking in his words.

"He was confused." Korra defended, trying to justify something to herself as much as the children.

"No, Korra, confused isn't the right word." The former equalist correct before facing both kids again with a rather serious expression. "I was trying to reach something good but I was using the most horrible ways to get there because I thought the only way to win was to scare people into doing what I wanted."

"So…You were a scary bad guy but you wanted to be a good guy?" Qannik's brows scrunched just as much as Rui's had as she put two and two together with surprising insight.

"Something like that." Noatak conceded and nodded in agreement.

"Did mama make you a good guy?" Rui was the one to ask, looking from his father to his mother and back to his father again.

"She most certainly did." Noatak smiled as he replied.

"After I kicked his ass." Korra added without thinking.

"Mama said ass!" Rui pointed at his mother in accusation.

"That she did." Noatak agreed and pat the boy's hair. "But we'll let it slip this time because she's right."

"You and mama had a fight?" Qannik seemed fascinated by this for some reason that they couldn't glean.

"Biggest fight Republic City has ever seen." Bolin was actually the one to reply this time but the couple nodded at his words.

"Mama won?" The little girl prodded more into the story.

"Of course." Korra smirked taking a victorious stance. "I'm the Avatar, after all."

"And you still loved her after she won? After she beat you?" Qannik looked at her father now with a little confusion painting her expression again.

"Yes." Noatak replied in all honesty.

"Why?" The little girl seemed completely revolted and her brother wasn't much different.

"Qannik, I love your mother for many reasons but one of them is exactly because she beat me that day and that forced me to see the wrong things I was doing and get back on the right path." Noatak replied as simply as he could put it, hoping that cleared their doubt, after all he did teach them to be humble but with such a proud mother it had never been easy.

"That's weird." Qannik pouted.

"Is it? Why?" The former equalist regarded the child, intrigued by her attitude.

"I would be angry I lost!" She snapped loudly as if it was very obvious.

"Well, that's normal. I was angry too but then I started seeing that I deserved to lose because I was the bad guy." Once again Noatak tried to keep matters simple; one day he hoped to tell them the whole story, one day he would explain about Tarrlok and Yakone and all the complicated moral views and politics that led to his war with the Avatar but that day was definitely not today.

"I don't get it." The child continued to pout and a very confused Rui nodded to share his sister's view.

"You will someday." Noatak smiled rubbed their backs comfortingly.

"Enough of this talk now. Let's speak of happier things." Desna interrupted, trying to lighten the mood even though both he and Eska had been entranced by the whole story as well.

"Yeah, like dessert." Korra added and at the mere mention of the word the children were jumping with expectancy, forgetting the conversation and picking out sweets, Bolin joined them for good measure.

The rest of the meal was cheerful and rowdy, for naturally morose and dark people, Desna and Eska still managed to surprise everyone with their random topics of conversation and oddball games that they got into with the children and Bolin and Korra often managed to act just as childish as any kid but even so they all had fun, even Noatak despite a couple of face-palming moments when the Avatar displayed raucous slip-ups in decorum.

By the time they left the little restaurant, after Korra made sure to leave a nice fat tip to make up for her own loud behavior, they said their goodbyes to the earthbender and the Avatar's cousins. The children were reluctant to part from the aging Pabu by then but they managed to convince the kids that they could play with the fire-ferret some other time.

The little family walked in direction of the harbor at a leisurely pace, the twins played around in the snow enjoying its crunch under their feet and tossing snowballs at each other while Korra took Noatak's hand and laced their fingers together as they walked sedately down the street under the lamp lights and the brightness of the full moon which Noatak glanced at often- even without his bending he still felt the pull of the moon and it made him feel nostalgic as well as brought a pang of longing.

"Do you miss it?" The Avatar broke the long comfortable silence between them as they decided to sit on a park bench, letting the kids play in a snowy playground for a little bit.

"Miss what, my love?" He looked at her.

"Bending." Korra replied and when he seemed puzzled as to why the topic had been brought up she added- "You keep staring at the moon."

"Are you asking if I miss waterbending …" Noatak looked at the full moon, letting its significance settle in his words before he finished with- "Or if I miss the allure of bloodbending?"

Normally he wouldn't open himself to this delicate topic with anyone but this was Korra and there were no secrets between them anymore nor was there any tension of awkwardness, besides, the topic had been brought up a couple of times in the past anyway.

"Both." She replied, squeezing his hand just a little harder.

"Yes. I miss them both." Noatak admitted in all seriousness but before she could interrupt with that troubled air of hers he decided to explain his answer further. "I miss waterbending as much as one would mourn for a missing limb and as for bloodbending… I don't miss using it in the least, I simply miss feeling the power coursing in my veins, it was a part of me since my childhood after all, in some ways it still is and I cannot simply disconnect from it completely even though admitting so is an awful thing."

"Noatak…" Korra bit her lower lip in a mix of empathetic pain and utter affection. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" He was truly at loss by her reaction.

"Removing your bending. I never wanted to do it, I didn't want to get to choose who lost their abilities like Amon did, I hate that responsibility, it makes me question my own morality… But I had to do it, you know that, right? The Council would have had you executed otherwise, your skills were simply too frightening." She was rambling, trying to make him understand how she felt while attempting to see Amon and Noatak as separate identities as she always did. He understood why and he knew she felt conflicted between what she thought was her duty and her loyalty to her love, he didn't like that she tortured herself with such thoughts.

"We've had this conversation before, Korra. I don't blame you in the least nor do wish for my bending back." Noatak told her before she could rant even more.

"But why?" The Avatar looked very confused.

He assumed that after having experienced the sensation of losing her own bending she couldn't understand how he could forgive her so easily even after more than a decade, and not want his skills back so he decided he needed to explain again and this time he needed to make her understand.

"Korra, all bending ever brought to me was pain and suffering, either my own or that of the people I loved and the innocents around me. I understand now that my view on this was warped by my own negative upbringing, I was doomed to hate my skills from the start, after all if Tarrlok and I had never been benders then perhaps our father would have never become abusive and vindictive and our training to become his weapons would never have happened; that was just the first of many things that damaged my perception of the world, it took being defeated by you and losing everything, including the power that had gone to my head, to make me understand that as Amon I was making the mistake of seeing the world in black and white as an extremist, ignoring the long-term consequences of my actions so long as I achieved my goal and my subconscious desire for vengeance against the one thing I blamed for all my pain." Noatak spoke calmly with his eyes on the children that played a few yards away but his hand remained in Korra's and he didn't let her interrupt. "So to answer your previous question, my dear, yes I do miss my bending on a physical level but on an emotional and moral level I do not wish for it back in the least."

"…I think it's the first time I've seen you talk about this so easily." Korra replied after a brief moment to take his words in.

"No, Korra, you've just always been so torn about the matter than you imagined that I was too but I've grown past these issues years ago." He explained, finally looking at her again.

"I guess I still felt bad for having taken your bending. It felt like I was dropping to Amon's level just because it was more convenient to take away your abilities." The Avatar muttered a little frustrated at her own thoughts.

"No. It was fair and it was the greatest mercy you could have shown me." Noatak assured her, raising their joined hands to kiss her knuckles.

"Either way, bending or no bending, I love the man you are now." Korra smiled and leaned even closer, pecking his cheek affectionately.

"I love you too, Korra, so much." He smiled, it was the sort of honest open smile that only Korra managed to earn.

They kissed, slowly and lovingly with their lips molding perfectly as if made to be together and their tongues dancing a delicate waltz that poured emotion into each other under that glaring moonlight while sitting in that frosted bench with the laughter of their children as background music to their romance. When the kiss broke Korra sighed happily and leaned her head on his shoulder as Noatak wrapped an arm around her waist to keep her close while they watched Qannik and Rui climbing all over the icy rope and steel structures of the playground.

"What will we do if they turn out to be benders?" Korra murmured softly though still relaxed after several minutes watching the kids play in the night.

"Given the ages at which both you and I started bending I'd say they should have shown some sign of the ability already." Noatak replied quite thoughtfully.

"There's still time, they might just be late bloomers." Korra pointed out hopefully.

"True and we were both very precocious so our experience isn't the best for comparison. But if that is the case then I'd be more than happy to see them develop those skills so long as they realize the responsibilities that come with it." He knew this was the reply Korra wanted, she was curious as to how he would handle seeing his children bend and years before that might have been a nightmare for him at so many levels- from his own sense of hypocrisy as Amon to his fears about his bloodbending heritage- but nowadays he had grown fond of the idea and had decided that no matter what skills his children did or did not have it would not change his feelings towards them. On that note he stated- "And if they turn out to be non-benders I will be just as proud of them either way."

"Equality as always." Korra smirked smugly as usual.

"And carrying power with humility rather than arrogance." Noatak added with a grin.

"I guess we're both a little guilty of breaking that last one, aren't we?" The Avatar's smirk became a little sheepish.

"Which is why we can let them learn with our errors." He assured her.

"Yup." Korra stood and dusted snow from her clothes. "It's late. Shall we head home?"

"Yes, my love." With that Noatak called for the children who raced over to him with flushed cheeks and noses from running around in the cold, their dark skin and blue clothing were also flecked with little dots of snow.

As they walked to the harbor, Qannik began complaining that she was cold now that her energy had burned out from playing and Rui quickly followed in that complaint so Noatak picked up the two small children, holding one on each side of his hips so they could wrap their arms around his neck and snuggle into his coat for warmth. Luckily, they were both quite light for a seasoned warrior like him to carry.

"Aw, I'm cold too!" Korra complained playfully, trying to press to her husband for a little bit of that body warmth.

"You're a firebender, Korra. Warm yourself." Noatak retorted with playful sarcasm.

Korra pouted and smacked his shoulder lightly in fake outrage but before she could think up a good come back they turned the corner and walked into the harbor so she became too busy with helping the children into the boat to actually argue.

The trip back was short and quiet, the twins fell asleep with their heads in Korra's lap, trying to see the stars out the window of the vessel so after docking and anchoring the boat in place, Noatak had to once again pick one of the children up, Qannik, to carry her home while Korra carried the little sleeping boy in her arms.

Actually entering the house was little challenging, it took some gymnastics to juggle the two children in order to open the door and get inside, luckily there was no need to go through the hassle of unlocking anything since there was no need for such at the island and Naga was a good enough guard for the home even if there was.

Korra handed the boy to Noatak too so that he could put them to bed while she went to check on the polar bear dog who greeted her with a lick to the cheek. By the time she had fed Naga and headed to the children's room Noatak had already prepared them for sleep so she merely leaned against the doorframe silently as she watched him cover the children with warm blankets before petting their hairs away from their faces; both twins were drooling slightly in their heavy sleep and didn't even stir when he leaned over them, placing soft kisses on each of their foreheads. To Korra there was no lovelier sight in the world.

They left the room together and closed the door carefully, then the couple headed to their own quarters and as soon as they were shut inside Korra was already pressing Noatak to the wall and kissing him deeply and almost hungrily.

"I take it you want to do well on that proposal from earlier?" He murmured into her lips between hot wet kisses, remembering her lewd little whispers.

"Uh-uh." Korra nodded with a naughty grin but after several long moments of heated kissing she stepped back, kicked off her boots, tossed away her coat and sat on the bed. "You know… We should do it again."

"Do what?" Noatak took off his own coat and boots and sat right next to her, curious about her sudden thoughtful expression.

"Have another kid." She smiled and lay back on the fluffy blue bedding, smiling up at him with her ponytails fanning out haphazardly.

"With all your work and responsibilities, can you really afford to say that?" Noatak cocked a brow at her, somewhat surprised by the topic.

"Family comes first, always." Korra's tone was stubborn and determined as well as confident. "Besides, you know that when I really want something I can handle anything for it and I really want this."

"Don't you think two is more than enough work?" He enquired jokingly, his hand reaching out to trace the smooth curve of her cheek. "Not to mention that I'm getting too old for babies."

"You're not old. You're experienced and in tip-top shape so don't give me that age excuse." She stuck out her tongue defiantly. "And hey, Tenzin was more or less your age when Rohan was born and he never complained, plus I know you love babies so no use lying about it."

Noatak chuckled at her logic and decided he couldn't really argue but he did face one of her points- "Correction- I love our babies, there's a big difference."

"Doesn't matter, my point is made." She sat up again and crawled over his lap, wrapping her arms loosely around his neck as she nuzzled her nose to his. "So how do you feel about one more?"

"If that's what fate has in store for us, I'll gladly welcome it." He replied warmly, in truth the idea was quite welcome to him and was something he had been considering for a while, having another person to love and be loved by after a lifetime of loneliness and sorrow would be a gift, especially now that there was peace and the Avatar did not have to fight or put herself in danger for the time being.

"Promise?" Korra smiled hopefully.

"I promise." Noatak nodded in all sincerity and pulled her body flush to his in a tight embrace while she still sat on his lap.

"I'll keep you to that." She warned with her usual smirk, her hands playing into his hair.

"I hope you do." He replied with a challenging grin.

They kissed again, this time hungrily and passionately, a gnash of lips and teeth, it was wet and wild and rough but intense and heady- it was just one of the many styles of delicious kisses that they enjoyed together but it was by far the most intense of all, it was the type of kiss that promised a night of passion and pleasure, it was the type of kiss made from happy endings and new beginnings, it was the type of kiss they planned on sharing over and over and over again for the rest of their lives.

~~~~~~.:oOo:.~~~~~~

_(Author's Note: This ended up being a lot deeper than expected, it started out just for the comedy and fluffiness but developed more than I thought it would. Either way, I hope Amorra fans enjoy it._

_About the names- 'Qannik' is Inuit for 'snowflake' and 'Rui' is Chinese for 'precious life (like a gem)'.)_

_(EDIT: Yes, I realize I failed completely at the comedy. Originally, during brainstorming and basic writing of the ideas individually, they were funny and slapstick style but when I put it all together I ended up softening them in a fluffy way so while the imagery might still make you laugh, the story itself doesn't work as comedy but I'll keep tagging it as such because of the themes._

_I also realize there are plenty typos, I was very tired when proofreading this so I will try to correct any errors when I can (I also cut a fluffy family snow-fight scene because I was too tired to work it in, I might use it in a next prompt). Oh and I know it could be A LOT fluffier but I am inept at writing overly sweet things since I like to keep the plot balanced out and therefore add the down side for credibility.)_


End file.
